Is BimUp 5D As Good as it Appears?

aadbuild

A few questions.

Is it possible to export model with BIM information to Revit?
Is it possible to set how deep the window is placed in the wall?
Can you draw simple walls for sketching and change them later to more detailed? From what I see in the videos it look more focused on construction than on design.
How we'll does it work for larger buildings? Examples only show simple house.
How many computers are you allowed to install it on? A lot of people have PCs at work as we'll as a laptop.
Why is there no demo version?
Did I understand it correct that if you buy you can use it perpetually but only receive updates for the subscription period?

Revit
The short answer is no, It is although possible to export the IFC. Watch this space. In my opinion you are actually increasing your work load by doing this in Revit. I employ full time Revit & Archicad guys and they do this in Sketchup and PlusSpec as it is quicker and more efficient. The model size is also much much smaller.

Window depth
The windows will be placed according to the internal wall and the cavity. The Cavity is adjustable so, technically yes.

walls for sketching and change them later to more detail
This comes from a Revit user through and through. The short answer is yes, although there is no disadvantage to use the initial construction method to start as you have the ability to change all or just one walls construction type.
The best thing about Sketchup is you conceptualise with it, get your proportions and size using Sketchup, make the repeatable geometry EG hotel rooms as components and then use array tool to build the structure from these components. When you are happy with the size and scale open the component and draw inside with PlusSpec. Job done & the estimate is just a bonus. All of the walls, windows and fixtures are all neatly put into categories and layers. You can make one floor or one apartment unique and change the window style or walls on one floor. Even though I invented the plugin I am still blown away at how well this method works.
It may seem as though PlusSpec is specifically designed for construction, yet the truth is it is designed for both. I choose to show the construction side as this demonstrates so much more. If you are familiar with LOD PlusSpec will create a LOD 350 models for you the first time without revision if you so choose. If you are an architect and you want to limit plan revisions PlusSpec is for you. Some of our Architects charge as much for the take off as they do for the drawing. To do a take off on a 1500 apartment building will take about 60 seconds, with the shadows turned on. Get an engineer who uses Sketchup and you can go home at lunch time every day and still do more work than you are now in Revit. There is more to come.

How well does it work for larger buildings? Examples only show simple house.
The reason why we only draw small buildings is so we do not bore you to tears in the tutorials. PlusSpec optimises everything and using RubySketch in conjunction for your fixtures does the same. Once I finish replying here today my job is to draw a full commercial building. I will put in 2 million edges and faces and run the shadows on an I5 laptop not plugged in to the wall. Ask Mike Lucey about this or Mike Tadros or Nancy Trig or ThomThom they saw it live, my aim was to crash Sketchup and I could not do it. Sketchup 14 Pro is so so so much better at handling large geometry. I would say the way PlusSpec controls geometry and size is its strongest point. PlusSpec is very stable.

How many computers are you allowed to install it on? A lot of people have PCs at work as we'll as a laptop.

Just one license, although it will install on Sketchup 8 , 13 and 14 in one installation on one computer. The same as Revit yet it does not cost $6k+ it only costs $395. so in effect you could install it on 15 computers for the same cost as one Revit license.

Why is there no demo version?
I have spoken to many developers and they say they get 200000 trial downloads and convert less than 1%. We are small and simply do not have the resources or budget to field this amount of feedback. The 30 day money back seems to be a better way to me as the cost associated with 200000 trials would see my grey hair falling out.

Did I understand it correct that if you buy you can use it perpetually but only receive updates for the subscription period? At this current time yes, just like Sketchup licenses are. We do have to make the wording clearer on the site. My apologies , I am new to this & this is the first week of public release.
The feedback and questions are great. Thanks for asking, if you need me to elaborate more please ask specifics. Ill do my best to hack together some quick videos.

aadbuild

@ashscott said:

Well PlusSpec, it looks as though you're stealing the show and thats possibly justified if your product is as good as it sounds.

I wondered if you have any info on who you guys are and what you're trying to achieve - might make people a little more comfortable to part with their $395

I see your "About" page and the nice vid there but who are the people behind plusspec and what is your vision? When I personally get serious about buying a product I generally scan the "about" pages for info on who those people are and why they're doing what they're doing - I guess it makes me feel like I know the horse I'm backing

Just a suggestion - I love your efforts to push our dear Sketchup forward

About PlusSpec video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_RM_EAFZeY

*Can't seem to get the above video to embed here on sketchucation...

Hi Ashscott, we already have a few of our Anzac Kiwi friends involved, it will be good to have another.

Ok who are we are what are we about? I could write heap of rubbish self promoting myself yet who could be bothered reading it?. The best way to check out who we are and who I am is to go to my LinkedIn page
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ecobuildingdesigninnovation

I have work to do on our about page, as I do the rest of our website. If you read my LinkedIn page most wonder how I get it all done. The answer is I employ smart, young & old (sorry Adam, Susan and Neil), trustworthy people, we have a great time doing it and we all have similar interests. This is not a job to us it is a passion!

When it comes to choosing a horse to back, it would have been great to get a dollar on the odds of Aussie horse, Black Caviar winning 25 consecutive races. You would be wealthy man now. I was thinking about getting of a race together with some of the top Revit and Archicad guys. It would be good for Sketchup to see how the three stacked up in different categories.

Don't get me wrong each of these software packages are brilliant and at this stage of the game PlusSpec is the dark outsider. I would love to see how we went in a trial run though. It would be great to get some more users over to Sketchup / PlusSpec and it would be an interesting test. I would learn a lot and may even get my ass kicked, only time will tell. To be clear I am not trying to take on the big boys, I am trying to give our users similar or better functionality for a fraction of the cost. I am confident I have achieved that....
....& this is just the beginning!

Any how I have to get some work done, thanks for posting Ashscott.
BTW the All Blacks and the Warriors are going down to Australia. Good to hear from a fellow Anzac mate

ashscott

@unknownuser said:

I was thinking about getting of a race together with some of the top Revit and Archicad guys.

When I first started working for myself using sketchup I met with a group of guys who were right into ArchiCAD - they asked me what software I could use and I said "SketchUp" they laughed in a not-so-encouraging way. I tried using other CAD packages but found them all so unintuitive compared to SU - I'm glad I've stuck with SU and can now deliver real value by putting out models at a competitive rate compared to some folks who use heavier CAD packages.

The Warriors'll probably get nailed, not sure about the ABs

aadbuild

I hear you there. I use them all and I find myself stepping back to Sketchup every time.
Maybe you could get that group to take the Pepsi challenge.
Thanks for the reply!

ashscott

My line of work is more mechanical engineering these days, and I can see application for some of PlusSpec within that but when you have had a think about that side of your tool let me know - cut lists and BOMs are useful and I have a sneaking suspicion that I can integrate some of my own dynamic components but one has to focus on specific clients and I can see your targeting the architect/builder market.

Perhaps when you have made a healthy profit from your product the next iteration can be for engineers?

otb designworks

@aadbuild said:

@otb designworks said:

MAC compatible?
Sorry Chuck not yet, we run it on mac in duel mode. It is not impossible to do it, it's just a matter of time.

My disappointment is large, but nothing like the uplifting power of the word "yet".

I hope you guys find the time to get a MAC version out!

aadbuild

Sorry Chuck. We have been tinkering though.

driven

hi

what's your biggest hurdle for the mac version?

john

aadbuild

Hi John, time and resources. It can be done yet it will be 2 weeks full time development at least. At the same time I'm improving the initial release and improving the library of components on Rubysketch. The only way I can concentrate on the mac version is to either put on another staff member or ask the community if they have models they would be willing to share on Rubysketch. Plusspec draws the building yet there is a lot more to construction than just building. We need things like boilers kitchen sinks, taps or faucets, furniture actually anything that is required. I can not afford to do everything in one go. I would be willing to swap the license cost for materials that are county or country specific. The thing is with Plusspec we associate actual products with components. So anything we get needs to be a representation of actual.
In my view this is what decreases issues at time of constructing. It also helps with accurate feasibility and cost control.
I know it may be an ambitious task yet I do not think it to be unachievable.
I consider design to be more than just aesthetics. 90+% of buildings in the world are built around practicality and affordability, good design should encompass asthetics, practicality and cost. I designed many buildings that were never built as the cost was higher than the client could afford, I'm sure im not the onlyone who has... It is difficult and time consuming for architects to specify real world products as the research can take longer than the design. Most of us design with representations of real world products and this means we allow room for error and to counteract error we make rooms larger than they actually need to be. This cost in itself equates to 5% of the building cost. Another 5% minimum is added by the estimator as he or she will make an allowance of cost for a none specific item.
If manufacturers would compensate this community for efficient model creation we could use these models to design more efficiently and accurately.
In short if you have access to real world models or you have a relationship with a manufacturer that would like to get involved. I would consider this to be helpful and it would allow me to spend more time on the Mac version. PM me or contact me through the rubysketch website. A like minded community with a goal to create a better more efficient industry for us all is what I seek.

holmes1977

Hello aadbuild

Im very keen to jump on board. Been looking for a better work flow from design in SU to construction plans in Autocad.

Im a one man band who works from home on a laptop for the first half of the week. Then I do the heavy work on the desktop at the office for the other half of the week.

Will i need to purchase 2 copies of PlusSPec to be able to work from home and at the office?

I posted this in your forum but failed to show up.

cheers
Jonathan

Krisidious

I guess my last post didn't go. here it is again.

I have a few questions.

Does PlusSpec offer full imperial support? standards for framing and what not, equipment and components?
If I buy a subscription to PlusSpec does that cover all the components library or do I have to pay per component?
What is the process or ability in terms of unique or custom building areas. Have a look at my website and you'll see what I mean. I have curved walls and roofs with the rafter tails cut off.
Will PlusSpec make use of SU 2014's auto label in Layout?
Does the BIM information transfer to Layout?

Grice

Wow, I only just saw a video of this. I have been looking for something like this since I started my business. I have been modelling all my projects with a combination of 1001Bit tools and a handful of other scripts that don't quite gel.

And I am in Australia too so I can see recognisable product manufacturers and suppliers!

But here's the catch though: No Mac version

Aadbuild - I put it to you that there is a market for a mac version. Happy to put my hand up for testing.

jiminy-billy-bob

@aadbuild said:

It can be done yet it will be 2 weeks full time development at least.
The only way I can concentrate on the mac version is to either put on another staff member

It may be worth it.
I've been gathering some user data from my plugin Layers Panel. I was quite surprised by the result, but it turns out almost 40% of my users are using Macs. (The sample is around 300 unique daily users)
We're talking about users using sketchup a lot, probably daily at work (90% of them are SUPro users), as Layers Panel is best used when using a lot of layers (like importing CAD data, or working on big models).
And yet, the mac version of LP has more bugs than the windows version. So yeah, I think the OSX market should not be neglected when building a business model around Sketchup.

http://chips-architecture.com/layers/analytics.php

It would be interesting to have data from Trimble, or even the SCF Pluginstore.

PS: And this comes from a man really not liking Mac and stuff!

rspierenburg

Just another quick question. As far as materials are concerned there seems to be new products on the market daily and it seems most of clients want to out-do each other by using the newest and shiniest. Are there provisions in PlusSpec to allow you to create new materials and add BIM information to it? Now I have to apologize, I have not watched all the videos as of yet so perhaps my question is already answered there, if so just let me know.

Thanks,
Rob

Rich O Brien

About 1in10 is Mac

jiminy-billy-bob

@rich o brien said:

About 1in10 is Mac

Interesting.
Do you have the same graph showing Mac usage for pro users only?

driven

considering that it's the cream of the crop, 10% is quite high...
john

aadbuild

@rspierenburg said:

Just another quick question. As far as materials are concerned there seems to be new products on the market daily and it seems most of clients want to out-do each other by using the newest and shiniest. Are there provisions in PlusSpec to allow you to create new materials and add BIM information to it? Now I have to apologize, I have not watched all the videos as of yet so perhaps my question is already answered there, if so just let me know.

Thanks,
Rob

Hi Rob, you will like what we have coming up in this area. It will be about 8 weeks away. Ill fill you in more as we get closer.

aadbuild

@krisidious said:

I guess my last post didn't go. here it is again.

I have a few questions.

Does PlusSpec offer full imperial support? standards for framing and what not, equipment and components?

If I buy a subscription to PlusSpec does that cover all the components library or do I have to pay per component?

What is the process or ability in terms of unique or custom building areas. Have a look at my website and you'll see what I mean. I have curved walls and roofs with the rafter tails cut off.

Will PlusSpec make use of SU 2014's auto label in Layout?

Does the BIM information transfer to Layout?

1. Does PlusSpec offer full imperial support? standards for framing and what not, equipment and components?
We have timber sitting here ready to go and we are making products as I type. If you have a particular supplier you would like to see on board send me the details. I will chase them up. I have had many emails from America and Acme, American Gypsum,Dryvit EIFS, Andersen Windows have all had over 100 requests from individuals. There are a couple more companies that are getting up there as well.

2. If I buy a subscription to PlusSpec does that cover all the components library or do I have to pay per component?
yes all of the components come for free. If you have more in your library that you would like to share let me know and I will have them added n( we do have a pre requisite on the way they are drawn (low poly, minimal faces and you must be able to buy them in your country) as efficiency is our main aim SKPBIM models are very stream line). There is a direct link to RubySketch inside PlusSpec that allows you to download directly into your model. This makes Sketchup work faster as adding too many components can slow down your computer if you save them locally.

3. What is the process or ability in terms of unique or custom building areas. Have a look at my website and you'll see what I mean. I have curved walls and roofs with the rafter tails cut off.

The best thing about PlusSpec is you are working in Sketchup, you can draw what ever you want (use the "Bim tool for non custom items), it's a big time saver, unfortunately not as quick. You will not have the ability to use parametrics yet we have a solution coming that will help with quantifying.
BTW Nice designs on your site!

4. Will PlusSpec make use of SU 2014's auto label in Layout?

I am working on this, I have asked Trimble for access to Layout back end. This is not going to happen any time soon yet we are working on a work around. Sorry cant help straight up with this one. Watch this space

5. Does the BIM information transfer to Layout?

Not exactly, I guess you want a window schedule? If so copy the text out of the take off data sheet and paste in LO it for a work around. We are working on a solution now. There are pros and cons with this new functionality that Sketchup added in SU & LO 14. Watch this space.

http://www.plusspec.com

aadbuild

Thanks Rich, that takes the pressure off.
Mac users, I will get it done, time is the main factor.
Anyone know how to clone humans?

I will be going to Hawaii next month if anyone wants to come and say Gday PM me, I will be demonstrating PlusSpec, so Aloha in advance.